Massachusetts Well Drilling Regulations and Statutory Requirements
This domain tests the legal frame around the trade: who may drill, what they may do, what they must report, and where local and state authority overlap. Massachusetts administers its well driller program through MassDEP under M.G.L. c. 21 and the well drilling regulations at 310 CMR 46.00.
What the rules require
- A license is required to drill, deepen, redevelop, or abandon a well. Licensure attaches to the individual driller; a company must have a licensed driller responsible for the work.
- Work must be performed under the supervision of the licensed driller, and the driller is accountable for construction, sealing and the completion report.
- Public water supply wells need MassDEP approval under the drinking water regulations (310 CMR 22.00), including source approval and control of the Zone I.
- Abandonment is regulated: remove obstructions, disinfect, and fill the borehole with approved grout or fill so no vertical pathway remains. Filling with gravel and walking away is a violation.
- Withdrawals above the Water Management Act threshold (100,000 gallons per day) require registration or a permit.
- Local boards of health issue well permits and may impose stricter setbacks and testing than the state minimum.
Worked example
A homeowner asks you to deepen a 40-year-old well and install a new pump. Deepening is regulated well drilling and needs the licensed driller plus a local permit; the pump work must follow plumbing and electrical codes; the deepened hole loses its old completion data, so a new completion report and disinfection are required; and because the work changes the well's capacity, water quality should be retested before use.
Traps
Assuming a driller licence authorizes pump or electrical work; skipping the report because the well was dry; abandoning with gravel; and treating a local permit as optional because the state rule is satisfied.